Bushman & Haas’ Ch. 8 “Diversity in Young Adult Literature”

LITERATURE CIRCLE


PAIR 1 - SUPREME SUMMARIZERS:

Your job is to prepare a brief summary of the reading. The other members of class will be depending on your group to give a quick one- or two-minute statement that conveys the gist, the key points, the main highlights, the essence of today's reading assignment. [You might even consider using the SWBST strategy (Somebody Wanted But So Then)]. Be specific.



American classrooms are becoming more diverse and the canon has not adapted to represent diverse students (or, worse, depicts diversity through negative stereotypes). As teachers, we must adapt what we choose to read with our students so that all students feel engaged and represented. Making more diverse choices makes students who are diverse feel validated (mirror) and gives students in the dominant culture a window into the experience of another student. Some of the challenges that face today's teachers are finding the resources that depict the diversity in a specific classroom, the antiquated ideal that the classics are meant to/have to be taught, and push back from individuals in the dominant culture who may not be aware that they are privileged to have texts that mirror their experience.